


Whumptober 2020 09 "Take Me Instead"

by frankie_mcstein



Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Magnum whump, Self Sacrifice, Sort Of, Whumptober 2020, beaten, possible miggy undertones, way to go Higgy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankie_mcstein/pseuds/frankie_mcstein
Summary: Whumptober 2020 prompt 09- "Take Me Instead""Fear and regret flickered across her face and shone in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” And now her voice shook. “I can’t just stand here and let him hurt you.” She looked back to Mike as he tugged on her arm and let him pull her away."
Relationships: Juliet Higgins & Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947172
Comments: 20
Kudos: 48





	Whumptober 2020 09 "Take Me Instead"

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Tommy. It's his turn to get all the whump today, some physical, some emotional. Higgy gets to play self sacrificing hero though which is a nice change for her this month lol!

Four days was all it took for Mike's life to fall apart. His wife, his beautiful wife who had never questioned him, had hired a P.I. to get proof of the affair she was convinced he was having. He hadn't been cheating on her; he had never even considered the idea. But he had been using his shipping business to smuggle drugs onto Oahu.

"You destroyed me," he seethed at the man responsible for the devastation of everything he had held dear.

Tied to a chair in front of Mike, Magnum shifted, hiding a wince as the movement aggravated his already pounding head. He wasn't entirely sure how he'd been grabbed, but he suspected he was going to be lectured about it by both Katsumoto and Higgins. If he lived, that is.

"I'm confused," he said with a tilt of his head. "You were the one who decided to get involved in drugs. How is this my fault?"

His head snapped back as Mike punched him as hard as he could. "You took those pictures," he hissed, looking elated at the blood that was running from Magnum's nose. He balled up his fist again, this time sinking it into Magnum's stomach.

Magnum gasped and coughed, trying to double over against the ropes. Another blow followed the first, and he gagged at the pain. Fingers in his hair yanked his head upright, forcing him to look into Mike's eyes. Eyes that were narrowed and burning with hate.

"All you had to do was tell Malia that I wasn't cheating. But you went to the cops!" He hit Magnum again, a solid blow to the side of his chest. "You. Ruined. Me!" And each word was punctuated by a punch to the same spot, two of Magnum's ribs cracking under the onslaught. 

Magnum struggled to catch his breath, the burning in his chest mixing with the burning in his stomach. It was fine, he'd been through worse. He coached himself carefully, wheezing slightly theatrically, trying to make it seem like he was far more injured than he actually was. He didn't have a plan as such; he was just hoping to buy himself some time to figure something out. 

'You're late,' he told himself. 'Any second now, Higgins will be pinging your cell.'

But would she? A little voice in his head was reminding him that, just that morning, he had joked about leaving her to handle the client on her own. The guy had been practically panting over her at their first meeting and refused to take any of her put-downs and refusals at face value. At the time, it had seemed like the funniest thing in the world to tell her he wasn't going to make it. 

A foot hit him low in the chest, sending the chair flying, and he couldn't help but yell as his shoulder seemed to burst into flames as he hit the floor. His lungs were straining, shocked into stillness by the blow. His head was spinning. He could feel adrenaline pouring into his system, but there was nowhere for it to go, nothing for it to do. His entire body was tense, throbbing with the need for air. And when he finally gasped in a breath, it was to lose it again in a groan as his entire back protested the way it made his shoulder move.

Mike stood over him, watching as he struggled to control the pain, smirking horribly. When it seemed like Magnum was managing to breath in a relatively rhythmic manner, Mike lashed out with his foot and slammed it into Magnum's dislocated shoulder.

"Feel good? Like it felt when you ruined my whole life!"

Magnum couldn't even try to answer; everything was looking a little gray, and his head was swimming. The pain kept rolling over him and made him think of nerve damage, images of himself trying to paddle the boat ski with only one hand flashing through his head as Mike kicked his shoulder again.

He thought he screamed. It might have been the blood rushing through his ears, or something Mike shouted, but something was echoing in his ears and it sounded like his own voice.

"Get him up."

Magnum didn't even realize what was happening until the chair was being lifted off the floor, his stomach rolling and clenching as nausea clawed at him at the sudden change of position. He blinked rapidly, trying to make a note of the faces of the men surrounding him; he was pretty sure at least two of them hadn't been in the photos he'd given to Katsumoto. 

Mike had walked away, and Magnum took advantage to catch his breath, fighting down the urge to both throw up and black out. His attention was pulled away from the black spots that were shimmering in the edges of his vision by a thick piece of tape being pressed over his mouth. Then he caught the glint of light on metal, and he forced his eyes to focus only to see Mike holding a knife.

“This’ll be fun.”

“This’ll be pointless.” The British accent cut through the air, and every head whipped around to see Higgins standing in the doorway.

Magnum's relief at seeing her turned to concern when he saw the man standing beside her with a gun in his hands.

“Perfect. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to get her away from those idiot friends of his.” And Mike was grinning again, the end of his tongue running over his teeth as he contemplated his options. “Let’s see… Do I make him watch while I kill her? Do I alternate between them both?” He was tapping the tip of the blade against his chin as he spoke. “What will hurt him more?”

Magnum was watching Higgins, hoping to see her giving him some sort of sign to tell him HPD was on their way. Instead, to his confusion, he saw her take a deep breath, seeming to steel herself.

“It won't work. Not the way you want.” She met Mike’s gare calmly.

“What’s that meant to mean? A broken bone will hurt him. A knife in the gut will hurt him!”

“You’re talking about physical pain. You won’t break him that way. I know, worse men than you have tried.”

“So I should make him watch while I slice your throat?” He took a step forward, but Higgins just shrugged.

“That would just annoy him. It would make him angry enough that he wouldn’t feel anything you did to him afterwards.” She raised her head slightly, making sure she had Mike’s full attention. “If you want to hurt him in a way that matters, in a way that he will actually remember, then take me away from him. Don’t give him the closure of seeing what happens next.”

Magnum yelled into the gag, demanding she take it back, begging Mike not to listen to her.

“There, you see? The fear in his eyes that he can’t quite hide? You can hear the panic in his voice even through the gag. You could hold him here for weeks, take his body apart piece by piece, and it won't even scratch the surface of what he can withstand.” She didn’t flinch as the knife was pressed hard against her throat. She kept her eyes on Mike’s, and, when she spoke, her voice was steady. “Take me, and let him live to face the loss each morning.” She kept her face still, no sign of emotion playing over her expression.

Mike stared at her for a long while before suddenly reaching out with his free hand and grabbing her arm. “Say goodbye,” he hissed.

She turned her head away from Mike, and, finally, finally, the mask slipped. Fear and regret flickered across her face and shone in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” And now her voice shook. “I can’t just stand here and let him hurt you.” She looked back to Mike as he tugged on her arm and let him pull her away.

Magnum screamed empty threats into the gag as he watched helplessly as Higgins was led out of the room. Mike's men followed, smirking. 

"This is gonna be so much fun." The blonde man's voice was full of anticipation, and he licked his lips at the thoughts running through his head. The dark-haired one made a gesture that left Magnum in no doubt as to their plans for Higgins, and he yelled again, this time in sheer frustration as he strained every muscle against the ropes pinning him down.

He had to get to her; he had to get her away from Mike before they left. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself, with the questions, if she just vanished. This couldn’t happen. The pain in his chest and shoulder kept building, but he kept on trying to get the ropes to magically fall away from him, ignoring the way his breathing was getting rough and uneven. The way the panic was starting to bubble in his chest. The way his head was spinning and his heart was racing and everything was looking gray.

A hand on his shoulder made him freeze, wondering what was about to happen. Was Mike going to kill him regardless of having Higgins? Had she somehow gotten free? Had someone found him?

“C’mon, Tommy. Just hang on a second.” 

It was Rick’s voice. Oh! Magnum managed to force himself to hold the breath he pulled in and locked eyes with Rick in time to see his friend wince in sympathy as he yanked the tape.

“Juliet!” was the only word Magnum could say. “Juliet… she…”

“Hey, it’s all good. She’s fine.” He seemed surprised that Magnum was so panicked, looking at him in confusion.

Magnum had just enough time to realize he had missed something pretty big before he suddenly blacked out.

***

When he woke up, he was being loaded into the back of an ambulance, everything was feeling light and cottony as painkillers made their way through his system, and he wondered why he couldn’t take his eyes off his partner. He tried to reach out for her, feeling like he desperately needed to make sure she was okay, and finding he couldn’t move his arm. He tried calling out to her but got distracted by the fact that his lips had gone numb and his tongue seemed to be floating instead of sitting neatly in his mouth.

“Relax, Thomas,” and her voice sent ripples playing around the edge of his drugged vision. “Katsumoto had three cars of officers waiting for me to get Mike and his cronies away from you. I just had to let that idiot think he had captured me and then lead them out through the door.” She made it sound like it was the simplest thing in the world.

Magnum wanted to argue it wasn’t simple; it had been dangerous and stupid and Katsumoto should never have let her try it and she should never have risked it. But her hand was on his face, and the painkillers really were excellent, and he was wondering if maybe he didn’t know the whole story after all. He tried to make a mental note to ask her for more details later, but his fuzzy mind refused to string the words together.

‘Never mind,’ his mental voice soothed as he slowly spiraled down into unconsciousness. ‘Someone’ll tell you soon enough.’

A few seconds later, his eyes slid closed, and he forgot all about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh c'mon! You didn't really think I was gonna take Tommy's Higgy away from him, did you? No no, I do the fluffy endings!


End file.
